What One Diet Rule Do You Try to Follow?

I try and drink lots of water. I work out most days of the week. The most difficult thing that I had to do was to cut out night time snacking. It took a while but I finally did it. Good luck!

In case you haven't heard of adaptogens, they are a category of herbs that help the body deal with stress, restore balance, and support normal metabolic processes. (A lot has been discussed recently about adaptogens, even Oz on Oprah). Often times stress causes us to overeat as well as produce excess cortisol (causes the body to store fat). Adaptogens support weight management by regulating blood sugar, insulin metabolism, and cortisol levels; aid in digestion; and increase energy. In fact, adaptogens have the ability to shift the body's metabolism to a greater use of fat for energy.

To learn more about fast acting adaptogen sprays (Slim is wonderful for cravings and weight control) and watch "The Story of Adaptogens Documentary" 10 minute video, go to VitalHealth.TunguskaMist.com

You'll have more energy and endurance to work out with adaptogens. Are you weight training? Lean muscle mass will help speed up your metabolism, thus you'll burn more calories! Avoid fast foods, processed foods, and all soft drinks, (if you're not already). Drink plenty of water and eat smaller portions throughout the day.

2 great books that I recommend are: Living Lean, by Larry North and Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by Winston and Maimes.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or need further advice and/or encouragement. I've studied health, wellness, and Kinesiology for many years and have a passion for helping people change their life:)

Hardest rule ever - Don't Eat Crap. If you don't want your kiddo eating a ton of it, you shouldn't either.

Do not eat after 8 pm. Whatever you decide to do, make sure it is something you enjoy or you will not stick with it. If you hate the gym, then don't sign up. Go for walks instead. I eat healthy during the week by eating 5 small meals each day and I relax the rules on the weekend, but don't go overboard. If fast meals are a must, buy Smart Ones and Lean Cuisines. They are good and quick. I eat one everyday for lunch. I walk with or without my kids everyday that the weather is nice which is a lot in TX. Good luck!

Hi M.,
Well, I don't really believe in diets, because they don't work. Deprivation=misery in my book. I believe that if I add the proper foods for optimum nutrition into my diet, my body doesn't crave bad stuff. I eat as much as I want, whenever I want, because I've added super foods. I weigh less than I did in college and before having my two kids. I've found super foods crowd out the bad stuff (I used to crave potato chips!) and I eat less automatically.

I subscribe to David Wolfe's philosophy (who is a world renowned author, nutritionist and super food expert). You can see a wealth of information about him on YouTube. The following video link is about what foods he recommends:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQQe2HDz03c

One of the most yummy and highest ranking super foods is Cacao (raw chocolate). Raw chocolate is a natural appetite suppressant and raw Cacao powder in a comparison measures 95,500 on the ORAC (antioxidant) scale as opposed to a 2,400 score for Blueberries. I currently buy his products from the following website which has additional information about other awesome super foods:

https://www.noblelifeelements.com/C.

Best wishes to you and your quest! If you wish to join an education-focused community or support group who strives to feed their bodies with the best possible foods, just do a search for raw food groups in the Metroplex on meetup.com

don't eat anything after 7pm
just water

I don't follow a specific diet. I maintain my size 2-4 by having whatever I want (IN MODERATION).

I am not a heavy snacker sweet or salty and not a dessert lover. I do enjoy my share of fast food at times and I don't deny that treat. Personally, I cannot eat an entire cheeseburger, chick filet or subway type sandwich. That is too much food for me. I lunch often at Market Street at the fresh salad bar and sometimes a bowl of soup. My salad is boring....lettuce, carrots, cheese, sunflower seeds and light dressing.

Keep lots of fruit available. Drink LOTS of water. My weakness is my nightly merlot when hubby comes home from work and before dinner. I HATE breakfast foods. My breakfast is something healthy but might be a bowl of chicken soup or peanut butter on toast. I try to never miss breakfast. I never miss drinking at least 1 Danactive daily. I mentioned my lunch above and I am a light dinner person. The dinners I prepare are healthy, I just don't eat a lot for dinner and dinner is always done before 7. I eat nothing after 7pm.

I walk a lot but I don't have a specific workout that I do.

I don't think you have to avoid certain foods and have strict diets. I believe we can stay fit as long as we have exercise and eat favorite foods in moderation.

Eat breakfast - and don't skip meals. Obviously I am not talking about eating donuts for breakfast either :) Just an egg on toast or something simple. I know I was always horrible about skipping meals. You can't do that. It slows your metabolism too much.

sparkpeople has been very helpful to me! great articles and info! but my basic rules is to eat in moderation. eat healthy 5 days a week so the weekends can be a bit more fun. always drink your 8 glasses of water. don't drink your calories. stay active, even if it's just housework or something simple. true i'm working on the 18 lbs that crept up on me last year, but they crept up on me because i forgot to follow the rules.

If you're going to be excerising regularly, you'll want to make sure you feed your body the right foods so that your exercise can be productive. My advice would be to match your portion sizes of protein and carbs. If you use the palm of your hand as a guide to the size of portion, you can have an equal serving of protein as carb (preferably healthy complex carbs). Fill in the rest with healthy veggies. Eat 5 - 6 times a day. That will ensure that your body gets the fuel it needs for your workouts. And if you do intense workouts, they don't have to be very long.

That's the practical advice for someone starting to exercise regularly, but if I were to give advice from my heart, I'd say to try to eliminate the processed food and drinks from your diet. I heard a saying years ago that made complete sense to me and started me on a much healthier path... if your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, it's not and don't eat it. If you look at the ingredients in a lot of these pre-processed foods (which line every shelf in the grocery store), most of them cannot be pronounced, let alone do we know what they are or where they come from. That's because they're manufactured. They're not "real" food. It takes a commitment and a lot of time to cook meals from scratch, but it's certainly worth it. My family and I are much healthier as a result. I'm not perfect (I still buy prepared pasta sauce and salsa and things similar although I do limit them and check the ingredients for truly bizarre items), but we're trying. Maybe you could just start by choosing one processed food to get rid of or one particular artificial ingredient to avoid. And start the ball rolling from there.

Good luck!

I control my weight with a website called www.fitday.com. It is a free website with a database to enter your food for the day and its counts the calories for you. All you do is put in the amount and type of food. They even have stuff like a cheesburger from McDonalds and other specific items like that. There is even a graph where you put your goal weight and the date you want to achieve it and it will tell you how much weight per week you need to lose. It is a really cool site!

Oh boy... I could give you a ton of advice (I've lost almost 50 pounds and kept it off since 2007). But, here's something that maybe the others haven't mentioned. I do not eat at any restaurants that have a drive-thru window. Yes, there are some things on the menu that aren't too bad, but french fries are my "Achilles heal" and I cannot resist ordering them if they are offered. So, I avoid those restaurants. If it has a drive-thru, my car isn't driving there. If there are things that you have no will-power over, then avoid them at all costs. Don't buy them at the grocery store (even if you say they're just for your kids - that never works) or don't frequent the places that offer it on the menu.

I'm like you, I don't like to follow a strict diet. That never works long term. The key is portion control. It's a no brainer...if you're taking in more fat and calories than you're burning off you're going to gain weight. I also try to limit empty calories that add up quickly like sweets & sodas. And I limit bad carbs like fries, chips, white breads and pastas. I rarely snack between meals, but if I do I make it something packed with protein like fat free yogurt or cottage cheese and fresh fruit, or a small salad with walnuts or almonds, even just some apples and low fat cheese. I don't exercise, but I'm still a size 4 after three kids. Admittedly not a pysically fit size 4, but maybe one of these days I'll get motivated enough to incorporate some daily exercise into my routine. I congratulate you on finding your motivation to be healthier. Good luck!

I try to never eat anything after 7pm (or a few hours before bed) and I try to stay away from too much soda also. I always try to eat breakfast also and drink plenty of water, the sugary drinks add to you weight ecspecially if you sit alot.
The top things to help you with your weight are:
1.Radishes
2.Apple
3.Dark Chocolate
4.Pear
5.Almonds
6.Grapefruit
7.celery & mustard because they take longer to digest and keep you feeling fuller longer so add mustard to your sandwhich instead of that fattening mayo.
These were all in a study.
I have three children and the most I've ever weighed is 140 when I was pregnant with my daughter & no I've not done any drugs. I currently weigh 112 and am 5'3.
I also like to eat yogart, its good for you and you can eat it when you get a sweet tooth instead of that cake or whatever........and drink green tea instead of the soda.
I'm sure you've heard this alot but excersize is fun and helps alot, plus kids love to excersize....ride bikes go for a walk, jump on the trampoline, jump rope.....whatever your kids will do with you!!! Sometimes they will even challenge you which is even better!!!

I believe in "everything in moderation." I don't cut anything out of my diet if I love it...i just don't eat too much of it. I love chocolate, so I have a little everyday, but I don't eat 3 candy bars at once. And I'm a size 4 after 2 babies. Same with fast food. Don't deny yourself your favorite things. It will only make you crave them more. Just eat them less often or in smaller portions.

Also, since I have a 2 year old and a 6 month old, it's hard to find time to workout, so I try to work in some lunges or squats at various time during the day or I'll run around and chase my 2 year old...that always burns a bunch of calories!